


One Foggy Morning

by mandaree1



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Amethyst takes care of a baby, Existentialism, Explicit Language, Human AU, Multi, On a Sunday, While beat up, it's fun
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-02
Updated: 2017-05-02
Packaged: 2018-10-26 18:30:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10792296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mandaree1/pseuds/mandaree1
Summary: Amethyst gets an itch and puts her big girl boxers on.





	One Foggy Morning

Amethyst had been born with a particular defect- a little glitch, really- that had gifted her with a lot of trouble in her life. Her parents, who had never wanted her, had only exacerbated it. When Jasper took her in, it built up and up until finally she indulged in it. She always did- it was one of those inescapable facts of life. The world sucked, gravity is an illusion, you should never use the entire cheese pouch on a family-size Velveeta mac 'n cheese dinner unless you hate noodles, and Amethyst is a flaky bastard.

She'd deny the blame, but it's hard to say "it wasn't me!" when you pack your shit with your own hands, sling it across your own back, and fuck off with your own feet. Her mind likes to wander, is all, and her body goes with.

Speaking of her body- fucking _ouch_. That last punch was a doozy. Amethyst's tongue hesitantly probes her gums, finding one tooth missing. She doesn't remember spitting it out. Maybe she swallowed it instead? Yuck.

Amethyst was fifteen when she started cage fighting. Fifteen? Sixteen? One of the 'teens', anyway. She still frequented the sport, coming home with fatter lips and bloody shoulders (when you're her height, you find your head and shoulders taking the most blows) but most of this couldn't really be implicated to cage fighting. More like the fight she got into in the alleyway _behind_ the joint she cage fought in. Whattaya want from her? She's scrappy.

This little defect- Amethyst preferred to call it her itch- had first made itself known when she was nine and ran away from home. Though, being real, she wasn't sure it could claim that title when mama and papa packed her bags for her.

"You are too manly," they said. "You're going to turn out like your sister, a lady lover. You're going to Tía's house to learn to become a proper lady."

(That's paraphrasing it. Some things just shouldn't be repeated.)

They clunked her down to a bus stop, shoved five dollars into her hand for a day pass, and bid her farewell. Amethyst bought the pass and, following her instincts, went in the exact opposite direction of Tía's house.

"It wouldn't have been so bad," she told herself. "Tía is a nice lady." Still, she went the other way. Following an itch.

Current day forced Amethyst out of her daydream with the realization that she had a bad cut on her right leg. This was most certainly building up to a gimp home and accept her fate situation over a go to work and tell curious staff at the Big Donut that she fell down a flight of stairs situation. If that didn't work, she'd fall back on the 'Yeah, yeah, you caught me; Steven did it.' gag, which always got a laugh. (Steven, at two, is about a vicious as a violent breeze.) Damnit. She needed the overtime hours.

Amethyst's leggings clung stickily to her right knee, making her feel lopsided. Her arms were pretty bruised, shirt ripped and dirtied- looks like it's going into the PJ drawer- and a decent shiner clouding her face. As if the squint wasn't obvious enough. Her hands, bandaged up to the wrist, have a patch of blood on each hand. She's pretty sure most of that is from the other guys'- her victims, so to speak. Some people have morning afters where they wake up covered in puke and wearing a party hat. Amethyst wakes up in an alleyway with one less tooth and a killer headache.

Amethyst is loathe to glance at her phone- she never should've given Pearl her number- but she's gotta call in sick before her shift starts at eight.

Ten missed messages. Truthfully, she expected more.

(They don't care as much as they used to, that little voice in her head told her. They don't love you anymore- not as much as they might've before all this, before you got the itch and made an ass of yourself, and slowly all that love is gonna slink away and leave you with just this.)

(Honestly? Fuck that voice.)

Leaving a quick message for her boss, Amethyst hiked up her shorts and gimped out onto the sidewalk. It's an early fall morning; chilly, but not cold, with fog peeking out at the edges. Not a lot of folks are out wandering the streets this early on a Sunday- they're usually frequenting church or their bed. The sun is just barely peeking out over the horizon- lighting up half the globe, but not yet emitting the dew-drying warmth. It's the nicest time of the day of the year, as far as Amethyst is concerned; the overcast sky only makes it better. No one asks to help as she slowly makes her way home, but Amethyst has a reputation with the locals, so that's understandable. Her resting bitch face is probably in full effect too.

From that bus stop Amethyst had found herself living with Jasper and her (now ex) girlfriend. The entire story wasn't known to her- Jasper got kicked out of the house after the 'rents realized she was gay as a three dollar bill, but how she went from there to a nice apartment in the city is lost knowledge, a history book with some pages ripped out. The same could be said with her and her girlfriend's relationship; how they got together and why was a fuzzy memory at best.

Cage fighting had come naturally. Amethyst liked to fight. Jasper didn't want her fighting kids and losing her chance at a high school diploma. Ergo, she signed her up. Looking back, she's certain her sister got cash out of the whole ordeal, but Amethyst never saw a dollar of it. That was Jasper for you.

Shit, wait. Amethyst wobbled to a stop, shoving her grimy hands into her semi-clean pockets, letting out a quiet sigh of relief. Her wallet was where it belonged. More likely, they'd fled the scene after she fell unconscious to avoid blame. This is a terrible time to be reminiscing. Focus.

Amethyst blanks out for a bit, coming to when her shoes meet warm sand. They'd taken residence at a little condo on the beach after Rose had died- it was secluded, but otherwise nice. Sand and waves meant she was almost there. Trapezing over the sands felt a bit like doing parkour, and she fell face-first halfway across the bend. Great. As if she didn't have enough bad germs inside her body right now. Amethyst picks herself up and keeps going.

The condo had been an add-on, Pearl had told her. Originally it had been just a small house built into the crevice of the hill, but they'd expanded once Rose met Greg and got knocked up. Now it's just the three of them, addendum baby, and it's a lot of room with little use. Meh. Steven'll have some killer sleepovers when he grows.

By the final steps she's exhausted, ready for a nap, and could honestly care less about her wounds. If she needed stitches, two more hours won't do much worse. She's already got a damn high chance of infection- might as well go with the flow.

Pearl and Garnet aren't home, as evidenced by the locked door. Amethyst fumbles for her key, swings open the creaky thin door, takes two steps, and flops on the couch. She hardly remembers falling asleep.

"What the _hell_?" Someone screams, sounding remarkably close to her ear, and suddenly Amethyst is flat on her ass, cradling her knee after it dinged the coffee table.

"Shit- _hi_ , Pearl," she glares up at the woman. What a mess she must look like to her- all disheveled and beaten. Whatever. "Couldn't you have been a bit more polite?"

Pearl is about three times her height and possesses none of the muscle or fat. She's so thin doctors always probe about eating disorders or neglectful parents stunting her growth. Baby Steven, already pudgy and only getting bigger, probably feels like a bowling ball in her arms. In her mom jeans and cool mom leather jacket, it's really hard to imagine her as someone who can kick ass, but she can and does. Admittedly, Amethyst wouldn't fuck with her in the ring.

Garnet silently closes and locks the door behind her, wearing her usual ensemble of stretchy pants and long sleeved black and red top, complete with these weird little gloves she likes to wear outdoors. It occurs to her that the two women might have been out looking for her whilst buying the groceries they were carrying, and has the decency of being a little ashamed. Mostly, though, she's just hemmed in, surrounded, uncomfortable.

Amethyst is a flake. That's nothing new. She's not even mad about it. Responsibility just never suited her- it's like getting a fish to fly. It's against nature. _This_ \- two girlfriends, two jobs, one son- _this_ is a _lot_ of responsibility.

"Did you lose a _tooth_?" Pearl asks, taking in her less-than-stellar bod.

"Fists to the face'll do that," Garnet comments. Amethyst doesn't know if she's joking or just being neutral. "Get off the floor, you're filthy."

"Thanks for the help, doll," Amethyst growled, grimly pulling herself to her feet. She wobbles, forgetting her leg for a moment, then steadies. "What's up, my dudettes?"

"Talk later," Garnet said. "Shower now."

"Motherhugger," she hums dryly, well aware that if she cursed now they'd be on her like white on rice. Amethyst drags herself to the bathroom as pitifully as possible, hoping to garner some sympathy for herself. It's a fine line between too little and too far with things like these, but Amethyst thinks she did a good job at tightroping it.

First the shirt comes off, then the bandages. Her hands flex a bit, sore. Amethyst puts her hair up to better maneuver and washes her knuckles in the sink. Her tights go last, sticking painfully to her leg. She jerks it off viciously. Fuck it. She did this to herself- now she's gotta live with it.

Living with it... Amethyst's never been good at just living with things. It feels like, all her life, she's been fighting. Fighting her parents, fighting strangers for money, fighting to make ends meet. If she can't fight, she just turns and runs. There's no point to it. How does anyone just _stand_ and _hold_ when there's no way to win? Blech. It sucks.

Amethyst feels something building in her chest, something itchy, and twists on the bathtub. She'll wash the wounds clean, then take a shower, then get her lumps. Verbal lumps. She hopes.

A light tap on the door. "May I come in?"

"I'm naked."

"That's not a reasonable answer."

"You're allowed."

Pearl opens the door, closing it behind her. There's a rag in her hands. She looks somewhat sheepish. "Would you like some help?"

Amethyst feels a bit warm. "Oho, my wife in shining armor, coming to clean my lady bits."

"Not even close," she snorted, then gestured for Amethyst to get in. She did so, shuddering with primal relief as she touched the warm water. Pearl slips around her back, long legs bent at the knees. Amethyst wonders if she's uncomfortable. "Turn around. I'm going for the leg first."

"Woof."

"Amethyst, you're covered in bruises. The sooner this gets done, the sooner you can lay down."

"I'm not getting my ass chewed out?"

"Not until after dinner."

"How lucky."

"How many times do I need to tell you to turn around?"

"Growl grr," Amethyst teases, but turned around willingly. She propped her pudgy foot up on Pearl's thigh and leaned back to let her work, watching her appreciatively. Hot damn. It's a shame she got the crap kicked out of her, or she'd totally be sexing this lady up right now. She'd do it with the injuries if she thought Pearl would let her. "You always come in and clean my wounds. S'like they get you hot."

"Not in the slightest." She patted her knee. "How did you even _do_ this?"

"IDK, tbh. I probably fell on somethin' sharp."

"You made sure nothing visible was in the wound, right?"

"I certainly didn't walk home with a dagger through the leg or anything. 'Tis but a flesh wound."

"You're lucky it doesn't need stitches."

" _Yes, mother_."

"Ha. Hold still. I need to make sure there aren't any little shards."

" _Yes, mother_ ," she repeats.

Pearl doesn't react to the prodding. This time. "You're lucky you look so terrible. Garnet is half-ready to take you out back herself."

"Whoopee," she answered flatly.

"And I'd let her."

"That's fair."

She sighs. "Sometimes I wonder how I fell in love with you."

"Don't we all?" _Don't_ , her mind wants to scream, _don't love her at all._ The itch is absolute. You can't escape the itch. She'll up and leave you one day, just like the ass she is. It might as well be written in prophet stone to be handed out to the dwarves; get the ring of power, pull the sword from the stone, never trust Amethyst to stay, she never learned how, and she's super selfish and petty, and whose idea was it to include her in a magical adventure, anyway.

"You're mumbling to herself."

Amethyst's eyes flutter closed. "Am I saying anything hot?"

"Something about little men? The water is making you sleepy."

"Hell yeah it is."

She hears the woman scoff. "Only you could sleep while someone picks at your injuries."

A slow smile spreads across Amethyst's face. She doesn't remember if she responded or not.

It's midday when Amethyst stirs. Everything hurts, and not in the fun way. Thankfully, they've invested in a bed that's soft and comfortable, so she hasn't done herself too much damage while she napped. Garnet has joined her at some point, in her sexy sweatpants and loose t-shirt, turned away from her. The dismissal feels like a slap to the face.

She can't help herself. "Seriously, G?"

Garnet shifts her legs, a quiet little shuffle. She shows no reaction to her words. Amethyst is almost fooled. Almost. "I _know_ you're awake, Garnet. You sleep on your back." Mostly just to cuddle them, but the point still stands. It's a habit.

Garnet's voice is husky and the littlest bit scratchy- perhaps she really had napped, waiting for her to wake up. "I'm very disappointed in you."

Amethyst groans. That little voice in her head is giggling at her, a litany of nonsensical insecurities; _they shouldn't, they won't, you're useless_. The usual junk. "Pearl said this could wait 'till after dinner."

"Today's Sunday."

"I noticed."

"Date night."

"Oh." Then, more understanding; "Oooooh. _That's_ why she wanted to put it off."

"We were going to Fish Stew Pizza. I got seats squared away and everything."

"Sorry. I forgot."

"This isn't _actually_ about date night."

Amethyst's voice is flat. Defeated. "I figured."

Garnet rolled. She was big enough to shake the bed without any effort. Strong fingers carefully traced her black eye. "You look like shit."

That surprised a laugh out of her. "Wow, thanks. I'm touched."

"You shoulda been home. With us."

Amethyst shrugged. She can't really say what got into her, can she? The itch is self-serving. The itch is self-pitying. Neither of which will ever fly with Garnet, whose been Ms. Lesbian-With-A-Plan since she came out of the womb, getting her first job at thirteen and selling cookies at school long before that to support her mothers. Amethyst ain't got shit on her. "I like to fight."

"You've never been gone all night before."

"I mean, fair enough."

Her voice is hesitant, almost questioning. "You were with someone."

"No! No no no no no- nope. Nada. All aboard the nope train, party of one. That was too far, G. No dice." Amethyst pulled away, hurt and angry and a billion other feelings she probably shouldn't be having right now. This _is_ her fault, after all. "You really think I'm a cheater?" She asked, voice cracking.

She grimly shook her head. "No."

"Then why-"

"That's how you _look_. When you don't come back."

"Whelp. That's some guilt-tripping bullshittery right there."

"You're right. That _was_ too far."

Amethyst moves away and to her other side. Her weight shifts onto her bad leg, which twitches miserably. Garnet follows, lightly wrapping her arms around her belly. She must look pretty ugly right now- she's never really been pretty, honestly. Sexy, yeah; just not pretty- and is grateful for the sweep of bangs across her face.

"You should go." She mumbles wetly. "On your stupid date night. I'll watch Steven."

"Amethyst-" She starts, but damned if she'll listen to her blustering.

"Just go. I'm not gonna ditch a fuckin' baby."

Garnet doesn't respond to that. Might not know how. A lingering kiss is pressed to the top of her neck. "I'm very angry, but that doesn't mean I don't love you."

"What is _with_ you guys and the passive-aggressive mushy gunk today?" Amethyst says, voice raised, flailing. It's past demeaning and towards annoying and this point.

There's a long pause.

"I know how you feel," she answers with finality. "I know you sometimes need reminders. So we remind you. We love you, Amethyst. Doesn't mean we're happy with you."

Something hot and unpleasant burned at her eyes. Amethyst resists the urge to wipe at them. They're pitying her. They always have. Pisses her off. "Just go do your fucking date. I'll feed Steven and stuff."

She hesitates again. Probably trying to find a way to refuse, Amethyst thinks. She's not trusted around the baby anymore- that's her real punishment. Eventually, she nods, tapping her fingers across her shoulder before drawing away.

"I can't tell you how to live your life." Garnet sat up and slid off the comforter, as if, by throwing this last little nitpick in, she will have done her duties as an angry girlfriend. "You're a grown woman. All I ask is that you think of Steven next time."

Amethyst buries her nose in her pillow. _I'm a grown ass woman? It'd be nice if you treated me that way._

( _Oh, let's face it. She deserves this kind of treatment, the stunts she pulls._ )

When they go, it hurts. There's no denying it. When they pull on jackets and Pearl's wearing her favorite blue dress and Garnet puts on her usual ensemble, only fancier somehow, and make excuses about wasting money, it hurts. She'd prefer they were more honest about it- just say she's in the doghouse. Tell her she's grounded and you need space. It's not hard.

But, then, it's always been like this, hasn't it? Amethyst came on a whim, an itch, and will leave on one too. She'd walked here, believe it or not, all bruised and bloody and technically homeless after a bout of fighting block, and signed up for some matches. Met Pearl and Garnet at Garnet's boxing match, back when Garnet used to box and things were decent. Slept with Pearl. Slept with Garnet. Caused some drama, found herself living with them, found herself taking care of a baby, found herself leaving Jasper and moving in with them despite her sister's warnings that _you always do this, sis, it never works out_. It was like the world finally got sick of her go with the flow mentality and threw a bunch of Mulan training post-esque weights at her, laughing as she stumbled.

God, Jasper was right. She really is good at making herself into the victim. Pearl and Garnet didn't _ask_ for her to come into their lives and start shit. They didn't ask for Rose to die, or to become parents so young. They certainly didn't ask for a flake to be one of their major sources of income during the dry spots between Garnet's 'missions' and whatever did or didn't get people interested in buying Pearl's writings. Pick a damn side, girl; are you the love of their lives, or the _destroyer_? Or is even that giving her too much credit?

"Alright, I'm awake, I'm alive," she half-mumbled, half-sung to the tune of the song, reluctantly pulling herself from the covers, "and I've got a baby to feed."

Admittedly, Amethyst hasn't spent a lot of time around babies, but she's pretty certain that Steven is the happiest one alive. He's never been fussy or loud; he likes to giggle and tug on hair. Hates having stuff on his belly, but otherwise just a really chill little dude. Even now, he shows utter nonchalance as she holds him, laughing and smiling. Didn't he notice his moms are pissy with each other? Can't he tell something's off with her _face_? Does a baby even give a fuck about these kinds of things?

She set him down in his highchair and grabbed his favorite bowl, prepping it with his favorite foods. She clinks the spoon against the side as she trails back over to him, pulling up a stood. "Your mama's in deep shit, kiddo."

Steven made vague grabby hands. He wasn't much of a talker, either. Amethyst spooned a decent amount and handed it to him. He shoves it in with vigor.

"Same, m'dude," she compliments, propping her chin on her hand. Amethyst doesn't think she's ever related more to a fellow human in her life. "You wanna know what's utter bullshit? Other people having expectations _for_ you."

Steven blinks at her. He concentrates hard on her face.

"Yeah, you heard me. Expectations are crap. Who looks at a person and is like 'yeah, they should be able to move worlds and change their personality for me'? And you know what's worse? It's _your_ fault if they don't pan out. They made this big assumption, but _you're_ the scourge for it!" Amethyst's hands fling out, knocking the bowl to the floor with a well-timed brush of her stubby fingers. "Fuck! Alright, new meal, comin' up."

Steven's eyes light up as she bends down to pick up the mess, leg flaring up uncomfortably. He slams his hands down on the table and proclaims, with great enthusiasm; "Fuck!"

Amethyst is so caught off-guard she stumbles, ankle giving out. She just barely misses hitting the island. Her leg hits the floor with a shriek of agony, new blood welling up and sticking her clean pants to her leg. She lets it bleed, falling to the wood floor with hysterical laughter rolling through her guts. God, it hurt, but it was so worth it. She needed this.

"Oh, my god," she whimpered, between laughs. "I just taught a baby to swear. That's a new low."

Steven said it again, as if for good measure. "Fuck!"

"Oh, god," she repeated, "that's it. I'm dead. Kill me." Amethyst hobbled to her feet and over to the cabinets, bowl gripped awkwardly in her hand. She wiped her face. Her cheeks were wet. Amethyst hadn't realized she was crying. "It's official. My night-in kicked Pearl and Garnet's date in the balls."

Half a bowl of food later, the euphoria had worn off. Amethyst swung her legs while Steven chewed. Truthfully, he could eat this by himself, but she wants to avoid a major mess for bathtime. She just isn't up to splashing around right now. "Listen, dude. You're probably gonna get some issues when you're older. Sorry ahead of time. The ladies already like to compare you to Rose. So, like, listen. I don't wanna be _that_ asshole to you when you're older, but there's a good chance I will totally be that asshole when you get older. Just take me out back and fight me; won't even be mad, fam."

Steven made a cooing noise. Amethyst wonders when he'll swear at Pearl and Garnet. A perverse, silly thought floated into her mind- imagine if he learned to associate 'mom' with it, so his first full sentence with it would be 'Fuck, mom!" That'd be perfect. She should totally work on that.

"Maybe I should move back in with Jasper," she said, slumping onto the counter. Her chin dug into the counter with every word. "Being a mom is like drinking without the buzz."

The baby clattered his spoon on the counter, as if in agreement.

"Same." Amethyst gently took him into his arms. "I had a dream the other night. Do babies dream?" She pondered if for a moment, then shrugged. "Eh. It was like... I was here, but _nothing_ was here. The house, ya'll- everything had gotten up and left. I woke up thinkin' 'What's the point of staying when we all know that we're gonna ditch Amethyst one day?' Peeps say to, like, take comfort in what you've got while you got it, but that never _actually_ works. Does a starving dude taste test his meal? Nah. 'Cause he knows it'll be gone. You can't appreciate stuff while it's disappearing in front of you- you only get all worried, and sad, and you teach babies swear words."

"Fuck," Steven told her seriously.

"Yeah, you're right. I _should_ call my boss." Amethyst took in a deep, fortifying breath. "Tub time for both of us. Our smelly bits need washin'."

**Author's Note:**

> IDK where this came from- literally out of nowhere. So... here! Have this story about accepting responsibility, I guess? And baby swearing. Yupper-do. =)
> 
> -Mandaree1


End file.
